The Energon Pub

What's yours?Mine is a rodimus prime masterpiece.Don't know why but I really do not like him.

Here's a little tip: when you start a new thread, it's a good idea to provide info from yourself or your opinion first, to get the discussion rolling quicker

That said, I have no experience with Masterpieces whatsoever (a little out of my league), but if there's a single one I'd never get it'd have to be MP-9 Rodimus Convoy. Too many QC problem on the guy: from shoulders breaking off (moreso on the Hasbro version), danger of scraping with the trailer and the black repaint has weak knee joints. Too many immediate problems for me to consider. I did see the Hasbro one in stores and honestly, I was tempted... But ultimately, no.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Here's a little tip: when you start a new thread, it's a good idea to provide info from yourself or your opinion first, to get the discussion rolling quicker

That said, I have no experience with Masterpieces whatsoever (a little out of my league), but if there's a single one I'd never get it'd have to be MP-9 Rodimus Convoy. Too many QC problem on the guy: from shoulders breaking off (moreso on the Hasbro version), danger of scraping with the trailer and the black repaint has weak knee joints. Too many immediate problems for me to consider. I did see the Hasbro one in stores and honestly, I was tempted... But ultimately, no.

Thanks,madam!100%Agreed.

Yes, MP09 Rodimus Prime is horrible with it'S crappy quality, but that at least had some effort put into it, so it's not really the worst.
The absolute worst is MP02 Ultra Magnus, it's a straight up boring repaint of MP02 with nothing worth wile about it. So not only is it not accurate with the iconic look of the character (with the armored up mode of the toy being the default robot mode of the character in all forms of media save one), but it's also really boring. It doesn't even come with a new accessory or anything, every thing is a straight up repaint of MP01's stuff, it even comes with a weirdly coloured Megatron riffle.

Say what you will about MP03 Starscream being about as accurate a representation of G1 Starscream as Armada Starscream or the crappy quality of MP09 or flimsiness of Mp05 Megatron, those at least had some effort put into them. Even the repaints of Starscream had own unique faces.

I agree with MP-02. There was absolutely no effort put into making it anything but a "new" white Optimus Prime. Ultra Magnus deserved more than that.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Here's a little tip: when you start a new thread, it's a good idea to provide info from yourself or your opinion first, to get the discussion rolling quicker

That said, I have no experience with Masterpieces whatsoever (a little out of my league), but if there's a single one I'd never get it'd have to be MP-9 Rodimus Convoy. Too many QC problem on the guy: from shoulders breaking off (moreso on the Hasbro version), danger of scraping with the trailer and the black repaint has weak knee joints. Too many immediate problems for me to consider. I did see the Hasbro one in stores and honestly, I was tempted... But ultimately, no.

Wish Tomy will do a re-release and fix all the issues.

i dont really view the line in this fashion. to me there isnt a worst. theyve all had a lot of work put into them and have some amazing elements to their design. even with the glaring flaws some of them have, i feel every one has great redeeming qualities.

and those MP02 haters, handle one in person. youd be surprised how taken you are with it. i liked it more than MP01 for some reason.

theyve all had a lot of work put into them

yes im quoting myself, because i know ill be jumped on with "wattabout MP05??". just cause he was developed in minimum time, doesnt mean there wasnt a lot of work put into it. the issues he has stem from a lack of time to refine the design. (IMO)

Megatron hands down

Megatron (MP-05) is still the only one that will rust so far, correct?

Wolfman Jake wrote:Megatron (MP-05) is still the only one that will rust so far, correct?

Nope. My 1st run MP01 has corrosion issues with his paint already.

Not worst, but maybe most disappointing for me is MP Ravage...

Too small, and only looks like the animation model at certain angles. Rear legs are weird.

IMO he should have had detachable missiles, it would have freed them up to make a more screen accurate figure.

I want to preface my reply by saying that I have at least one of each MP mold, including the Z's and Lamborghini's. They are stored under glass and rarely, if ever, taken out to transform.

I can't say that any of them are "the worst". They all have things about them that I like and don't like. For me, Megatron and Rodimus have the most things that I don't like. They have each been transformed once and put away. I would have liked both of them to be more durable and their transformations a little easier. I also wish they could hold more poses. I don't trust either one of them to even stand there without support. Even with these problems, I am still glad I bought them.

I can see where people are saying MP-09. He does have issues but with all the review videos out there, I have been made aware of what to watch out for and how to make that figure more enjoyable for me.

I would say the worst so far has been MP-05 Megatron. In his defense though, he was designed in ONLY 12 DAYS! I think he just needed more time in development (another month at least?)

I'm looking forward to the X-Transbots Apollyon to replace my MP-05. Hopefully that will be a much better figure.

Though there are probably worse figures out there, the MP figure I am most dissapointed with is the Seeker mold. I own the MP 03 G rendition of that mold and I really dont find it to be masterpiece level. Alt mode detail, sure, but compare it to the classics mold and I find this later one to be a clear winner. Aside from the innacuracy of the mold, what I really dislike is the transformation by hallowing out the middle section. This makes him so much more fragile and fiddly. And the back doesnt look good at all, it's the nosecone in a mishmash of junk. I find that very unapealing, especially when you look at it from the side.



You would think a Masterpiece would have found a way around just a kibble dumb in the back. And like I said, this sort of transformation really makes the figure more fiddly.

I also, never liked how his head looked on his body. It always looks too pushed back and not in synch with the rest of his body whenever posing him at any other angle than facing you in a stiff pose.



What dissapoints me about these 2 points is that they go against what the line was supposed to be. Here, the more complicated mold results into something fiddly that is not cartoon accurate and looks all over the place.

The worst part is the following, and it really sets it apart from it's fellow MP molds: it pales in comparison to it's less espensive toy.

While I wouldn't say he's the worst. I have to say I'm a little disappointed in MP Ratbat (especially because I had to buy Soundblaster to get him)

He looks good at a glance, but has minimal poseabilty, less than the original toy.

"Yes", you might say "but this one has integrated weapons". But looking at how little space the jets take up, I can't help but wonder if they couldn't design a transformation closer to the original G1 toy while still leaving room for the integrated jet pack. He changes using this weird chest flip over method that seems almost too complicated for no reason. He even winds up with two sets of spool holes (one false, on real) as a result.

What does anyone else think. Am I griping too much?

RiddlerJ wrote:While I wouldn't say he's the worst. I have to say I'm a little disappointed in MP Ratbat (especially because I had to buy Soundblaster to get him)

He looks good at a glance, but has minimal poseabilty, less than the original toy.

"Yes", you might say "but this one has integrated weapons". But looking at how little space the jets take up, I can't help but wonder if they couldn't design a transformation closer to the original G1 toy while still leaving room for the integrated jet pack. He changes using this weird chest flip over method that seems almost too complicated for no reason. He even winds up with two sets of spool holes (one false, on real) as a result.

What does anyone else think. Am I griping too much?

No, I feel that for the money we pay, along with the line's main goal, expecting to get a perfect version of something is kind of warranted (hence my rant on Starscream above). I myself do not find the casettes to be so much of an upgrade than the G1s. They overcomplicate things just like they overcomplicated MP 03's seeker mold. Then again, that just shows how great the G1 casettes were, and they can still fit in our masterpiece soundwaves and soundblasters. Sorry you had to spend so much for the ratbat figure though.

i really kinda disagree with the MP03 nomination. which you might not be surprised by since i raved about it in the "best designed" thread.

a lot of your points are vaild, and a lot comes to personal taste. but id like to try and counter some.

william-james88 wrote:I own the MP 03 rendition of that mold and I really dont find it to be masterpiece level. Alt mode detail, sure, but compare it to the classics mold and I find this later one to be a clear winner.

comparing the alt mode of MP03 to classics SS? i feel MP03 has the best jet mode we've ever gotten, and in no way compares to that clunky deluxe. and dont get me wrong, ive got a lot of love for that classics mold (like 4 away from being a classics seeker completist!).

william-james88 wrote:Aside from the innacuracy of the mold, what I really dislike is the transformation bu hallowing out the middle section. This makes him so much more fragile and fiddly. And the back doesnt look good at all, it's the nosecone in a mishmash of junk.

but the seekers hollow out the middle in G1 (toon and toy). s'just how they transform. i have the takara MP03 trio and ill tell ya, they are WAY more solid than the 5 MP11's i have. and im almost positive (and i hope someone can back me up as i have no MP03 handy) that the nosecone and junk can collapse into the back better than in ryans pic there (sorry ryan). i know i was able to get all the back kibble flat, with nothing protruding.

william-james88 wrote:I also, never liked how his head looked on his body. It always looks too pushed back and not in synch with the rest of his body whenever posing him at any other angle than facing you in a stiff pose.

true enough. the MP03 and MP11 both suffer from this.

william-james88 wrote:What dissapoints me about these 2 points is that they go against what the line was supposed to be. Here, the more complicated mold results into something fiddly that is not cartoon accurate and looks all over the place.

i feel some slack could be given though. the line at that point was so young, and maybe they had no clear "destination" in mind. i believe that to be the case, and that they didnt really have a clear vision for the line until MP10.

william-james88 wrote:The worst part is the following, and it really sets it apart from it's fellow MP molds.

MP's 1-8 are really a mish mash. nothing really fits together aside from optimus and megatron, and the seekers with themselves.

i treat MP03 as a diamond in the rough. is it what we wanted or expected? nope. but its still pretty great.

Great rebuttle Shajaki, though we actually agree on more things than it seems since I realize now that I was misunderstood a bit.

shajaki wrote:i really kinda disagree with the MP03 nomination. which you might not be surprised by since i raved about it in the "best designed" thread.

a lot of your points are vaild, and a lot comes to personal taste. but id like to try and counter some.

william-james88 wrote:I own the MP 03 rendition of that mold and I really dont find it to be masterpiece level. Alt mode detail, sure, but compare it to the classics mold and I find this later one to be a clear winner.

comparing the alt mode of MP03 to classics SS? i feel MP03 has the best jet mode we've ever gotten, and in no way compares to that clunky deluxe. and dont get me wrong, ive got a lot of love for that classics mold (like 4 away from being a classics seeker completist!).

Here is where I was not clear. I meant that I find the toy to be a masterpiece in alt mode, but only in alt mode. His alt mode beats every other jet alt mode except maybe the movie leader Starscream (because of the bottom, but hen again the bottom of MP Starscream is show accurate). So we agree on the alt mode being awesome. What I meant was that even with the better alt mode, I find the classics seeker mold to be better than the masterpiece seeker mold. Mainly for it's show accuracy, more solid mid section, smoother back kibble (though as you pointed out, it may simply be a matter of better aligning a few parts to fold away better) and head more aligned with the body. And when you bring in value to the table, I find the classics seeker mold to be a better deal if you want a good representation of the G1 characters. MP 03 isn't worth spending all that money, from that perspective. Simply my opinion.

shajaki wrote:

william-james88 wrote:What dissapoints me about these 2 points is that they go against what the line was supposed to be. Here, the more complicated mold results into something fiddly that is not cartoon accurate and looks all over the place.

i feel some slack could be given though. the line at that point was so young, and maybe they had no clear "destination" in mind. i believe that to be the case, and that they didnt really have a clear vision for the line until MP10.

I understand the line being young. But then why didn’t they give us a Starscream 2.0 mold for MP 11 instead of a 1.5 mold. I don’t consider the new seekers to be new molds more than simply remolds of MP 03. The show accuracy may be better but I still have the same problem with how the mold is now. It feels even fiddlier than before (as you pointed out in design thread when you said that the MP 03 felt stronger, which it totally does). And they didn’t fix the head. That upsets me so much. It really doesn’t look right to me and is very distracting; to the point that I keep my MP 03 in jet mode and have no intention in transforming him back to robot mode. I get how MP 03 was a first and thus should have some leeway but I don’t feel they improved the mold much since. In the current post MP 10 line up, the seekers are my least favourite MPs and the only ones I am not seeking out (pun!).

shajaki wrote:

william-james88 wrote:The worst part is the following, and it really sets it apart from it's fellow MP molds.

MP's 1-8 are really a mish mash. nothing really fits together aside from optimus and megatron, and the seekers with themselves.

That quote only works in connection to my next line when I explain the reason I say that. It’s not about scale or anything of the sort (because that was thrown out the window early on). The big difference between MP 03 and the other MPs was that MP 03 was the only MP to have a better representation of the G1 character coming out too. When MP 01 came out, it was the best Optimus. This thread is calling MP 05 as the worst but I love him, and to me he still is the best representation of G1 Megatron we have from Takara or Hasbro (but that’s not hard, not too many Megatrons out there turn into guns). And that MP 08 is amazing! But in 2006, both MP 03 Starscream and Classics Starscream came out, and it is the only time when the Masterpiece version was not the better G1 representation of the character available out there. As you say, it was not what we wanted, but it was still pretty great. However, what we wanted was actually available. And at a far lower cost. Hence why MP 03 (as well as the MP seeker mold as a whole) is my least favourite masterpiece.




vs

the one that's the most disappointing to me, is megatron, due to his crappy design (yes, i know he was designed in very short time). he's very fragile and he simply can't support himself, due to his weak joints and the enormous cannon on his arm.

Megatron. This is a question?

william-james88 wrote:Here is where I was not clear. I meant that I find the toy to be a masterpiece in alt mode, but only in alt mode. His alt mode beats every other jet alt mode except maybe the movie leader Starscream (because of the bottom, but hen again the bottom of MP Starscream is show accurate). So we agree on the alt mode being awesome. What I meant was that even with the better alt mode, I find the classics seeker mold to be better than the masterpiece seeker mold. Mainly for it's show accuracy, more solid mid section, smoother back kibble (though as you pointed out, it may simply be a matter of better aligning a few parts to fold away better) and head more aligned with the body. And when you bring in value to the table, I find the classics seeker mold to be a better deal if you want a good representation of the G1 characters. MP 03 isn't worth spending all that money, from that perspective. Simply my opinion.

ahhh kay. i getcha. classics is indeed the more toon accurate version. and value does indeed play a big role.

william-james88 wrote:I understand the line being young. But then why didn’t they give us a Starscream 2.0 mold for MP 11 instead of a 1.5 mold. I don’t consider the new seekers to be new molds more than simply remolds of MP 03. The show accuracy may be better but I still have the same problem with how the mold is now. It feels even fiddlier than before (as you pointed out in design thread when you said that the MP 03 felt stronger, which it totally does). And they didn’t fix the head. That upsets me so much. It really doesn’t look right to me and is very distracting; to the point that I keep my MP 03 in jet mode and have no intention in transforming him back to robot mode. I get how MP 03 was a first and thus should have some leeway but I don’t feel they improved the mold much since. In the current post MP 10 line up, the seekers are my least favourite MPs and the only ones I am not seeking out (pun!).

i was actually naive before. for the longest time i assumed MP11 was a new mold (or the original one teased before we got MP03). and while im a huge seeker fan, i might be right there with you in thinking the MP11 is my least favorite (post MP10).

william-james88 wrote:That quote only works in connection to my next line when I explain the reason I say that. It’s not about scale or anything of the sort (because that was thrown out the window early on). The big difference between MP 03 and the other MPs was that MP 03 was the only MP to have a better representation of the G1 character coming out too. When MP 01 came out, it was the best Optimus. This thread is calling MP 05 as the worst but I love him, and to me he still is the best representation of G1 Megatron we have from Takara or Hasbro (but that’s not hard, not too many Megatrons out there turn into guns). And that MP 08 is amazing! But in 2006, both MP 03 Starscream and Classics Starscream came out, and it is the only time when the Masterpiece version was not the better G1 representation of the character available out there. As you say, it was not what we wanted, but it was still pretty great. However, what we wanted was actually available. And at a far lower cost. Hence why MP 03 (as well as the MP seeker mold as a whole) is my least favourite masterpiece.

roger that. however for me, i dont think i can compare classics and MP just due to the drastic differences in quality. if classics SS had better posability then i might agree with you, but that line to was young. a classics deluxe SS made today i bet would blow the MP's out of the water.

shajaki wrote:i was actually naive before. for the longest time i assumed MP11 was a new mold (or the original one teased before we got MP03). and while im a huge seeker fan, i might be right there with you in thinking the MP11 is my least favorite (post MP10).

i dont think i can compare classics and MP just due to the drastic differences in quality. if classics SS had better posability then i might agree with you, but that line to was young. a classics deluxe SS made today i bet would blow the MP's out of the water.

Thanks for your replies, they were very much appreciated. And I totally see why one would not compare in between lines, especially when one collects all of a specific line and that is where we differ. Since I am not a completionist of any line, I only buy what I like and what works best for me, so I see all these toys as one big Transformers line (I wanted a good Astrotrain after watching the God Gambit, and I ended up getting the G1 version since it had the best train mode). Early on, I had even made a thread asking people for the best seeker design since I simply wanted to add more seeker molds to my collection (Galaxy Force voyager seeker mold and classics seeker mold were quite up there).

I will give you this though, I preffer MP 03 to the remold (MP 11 and the others since). Simply because MP 03 was it's own thing. The line was young, alternators were a thing and I can see how the idea of a masterpiece may not have meant then what it means now (screen accuracy). I don't own any of the other seekers (as one would guess from what I wrote), hence why I could only write about MP 03 in this thread. But it is beyond me why Takara would use an existing mold that was not meant to be screen accurate and tweek it a bit to make it so. That doesnt work. Like with MP 10, they should have made a totally new mold. Now I do not know if the definition of a Masterpiece figure is to be screen accurate (it seems so) or from an engineering or desing perspective or all of the above. But MP 03 is a better figure than MP 11 just because it doesn't shy away from being something different. I will side with you on that any day.

william-james88 wrote:Great rebuttle Shajaki, though we actually agree on more things than it seems since I realize now that I was misunderstood a bit.

shajaki wrote:i really kinda disagree with the MP03 nomination. which you might not be surprised by since i raved about it in the "best designed" thread.

a lot of your points are vaild, and a lot comes to personal taste. but id like to try and counter some.

william-james88 wrote:I own the MP 03 rendition of that mold and I really dont find it to be masterpiece level. Alt mode detail, sure, but compare it to the classics mold and I find this later one to be a clear winner.

comparing the alt mode of MP03 to classics SS? i feel MP03 has the best jet mode we've ever gotten, and in no way compares to that clunky deluxe. and dont get me wrong, ive got a lot of love for that classics mold (like 4 away from being a classics seeker completist!).

Here is where I was not clear. I meant that I find the toy to be a masterpiece in alt mode, but only in alt mode. His alt mode beats every other jet alt mode except maybe the movie leader Starscream (because of the bottom, but hen again the bottom of MP Starscream is show accurate). So we agree on the alt mode being awesome. What I meant was that even with the better alt mode, I find the classics seeker mold to be better than the masterpiece seeker mold. Mainly for it's show accuracy, more solid mid section, smoother back kibble (though as you pointed out, it may simply be a matter of better aligning a few parts to fold away better) and head more aligned with the body. And when you bring in value to the table, I find the classics seeker mold to be a better deal if you want a good representation of the G1 characters. MP 03 isn't worth spending all that money, from that perspective. Simply my opinion.

shajaki wrote:

william-james88 wrote:What dissapoints me about these 2 points is that they go against what the line was supposed to be. Here, the more complicated mold results into something fiddly that is not cartoon accurate and looks all over the place.

i feel some slack could be given though. the line at that point was so young, and maybe they had no clear "destination" in mind. i believe that to be the case, and that they didnt really have a clear vision for the line until MP10.

I understand the line being young. But then why didn’t they give us a Starscream 2.0 mold for MP 11 instead of a 1.5 mold. I don’t consider the new seekers to be new molds more than simply remolds of MP 03. The show accuracy may be better but I still have the same problem with how the mold is now. It feels even fiddlier than before (as you pointed out in design thread when you said that the MP 03 felt stronger, which it totally does). And they didn’t fix the head. That upsets me so much. It really doesn’t look right to me and is very distracting; to the point that I keep my MP 03 in jet mode and have no intention in transforming him back to robot mode. I get how MP 03 was a first and thus should have some leeway but I don’t feel they improved the mold much since. In the current post MP 10 line up, the seekers are my least favourite MPs and the only ones I am not seeking out (pun!).

shajaki wrote:

william-james88 wrote:The worst part is the following, and it really sets it apart from it's fellow MP molds.

MP's 1-8 are really a mish mash. nothing really fits together aside from optimus and megatron, and the seekers with themselves.

That quote only works in connection to my next line when I explain the reason I say that. It’s not about scale or anything of the sort (because that was thrown out the window early on). The big difference between MP 03 and the other MPs was that MP 03 was the only MP to have a better representation of the G1 character coming out too. When MP 01 came out, it was the best Optimus. This thread is calling MP 05 as the worst but I love him, and to me he still is the best representation of G1 Megatron we have from Takara or Hasbro (but that’s not hard, not too many Megatrons out there turn into guns). And that MP 08 is amazing! But in 2006, both MP 03 Starscream and Classics Starscream came out, and it is the only time when the Masterpiece version was not the better G1 representation of the character available out there. As you say, it was not what we wanted, but it was still pretty great. However, what we wanted was actually available. And at a far lower cost. Hence why MP 03 (as well as the MP seeker mold as a whole) is my least favourite masterpiece.




vs

On the robot mode of MP-03...........really...........wtf was Shoji Kawamori thinking? Adding those two kibble on his hips.......hen preliminary design indicated it as not so. Robot wise, if you want to be show accurate MP-11 floors it but I've heard that mold also suffers from the "Blitzwing shoulder" syndrome...............too bad.

fenrir72 wrote:On the robot mode of MP-03...........really...........wtf was Shoji Kawamori thinking? Adding those two kibble on his hips.......hen preliminary design indicated it as not so. Robot wise, if you want to be show accurate MP-11 floors it but I've heard that mold also suffers from the "Blitzwing shoulder" syndrome...............too bad.

Simply put, Shoji Kawamori was thinking "Right, we've had years of Transformers with crappy jet modes, let's make the best jetformer ever". Starscream was only the second mold in the series (MP-02 was basically MP-01 painted white) and the direction of the MP line was "Transformers made with as much awesome engineering and clever details as possible" rather than "Transformers made as close to the G1 cartoon as possible". I'm pretty sure MP-03 was liked a lot better in Japan, mainly because Japanese collectors are far more open to novelty/unique figures, and Shoji Kawamori is a seriously famous guy in Japan, and pretty much THE guy to do jet transformations- thus his personal take on Starscream was considered something of a holy grail to Transformers fans, Macross fans and mecha fans in general.

Myself, I think he looks pretty cool. I've actually considered getting the Hasbro release of him and the 2 other MP-03 based Seekers as my main Seekers (I believe jetformers should be Voyager or larger) and getting the Japanese release as a standalone figure. But then i do love aircraft, the F-15 in particular, so I am biased.

Incidentally he's also more or less perfect 1/60 scale, so he goes very well with any 1/60 scale figures or models (Pefect Grade Gunpla and model aircraft for example).

Regarding what the worst MP is, I think there's only 2 candidates (neither of which I own for the record): Megatron with his ridiculously fragility and rust-prone parts, and Rodimus- specifically the Hasbro version with no trailer and EXPLODING SHOULDERS.

Delta Magnus wrote:Simply put, Shoji Kawamori was thinking "Right, we've had years of Transformers with crappy jet modes, let's make the best jetformer ever". Starscream was only the second mold in the series (MP-02 was basically MP-01 painted white) and the direction of the MP line was "Transformers made with as much awesome engineering and clever details as possible" rather than "Transformers made as close to the G1 cartoon as possible". I'm pretty sure MP-03 was liked a lot better in Japan, mainly because Japanese collectors are far more open to novelty/unique figures, and Shoji Kawamori is a seriously famous guy in Japan, and pretty much THE guy to do jet transformations- thus his personal take on Starscream was considered something of a holy grail to Transformers fans, Macross fans and mecha fans in general.

thanks for that! ive always been a big fan of MP03, but knowing how and why it came to be is nice